We-2Bs: Alaska 2015 - Day 24 & 25 - Talkeetna

Day 24 – 6-4-15 Thursday We departed the CG about 8:30AM and stopped at a fuel stop when we got back out to the Parks Highway. The diesel fuel was $3.299, which is the cheapest diesel we have bought since we left Montana. It is about $.60 - $1.00 higher in Alaska that what we were paying in the lower 48 states but the fuel in Alaska is about $1.00 to $2.00 cheaper than in Canada. We only had about 160 miles to get to our destination today so we expect to arrive around noon.

The drive from Talkeenta to Anchorage was all good roads, some 4 lane and some 3 lanes or 2 lanes with a passing lane for a mile or so. We could see mountain peaks in some places off in the distance. We drove pass Willow, Wasilla (we didn't see Sarah Palin) and on into Anchorage. I expected the road to go around the city but it went right through it.

It was misting rain this morning when we left the CG but before we got to Anchorage the sky cleared and the sun was shining bright. But about 20 miles or so past Anchorage it started to rain and the wind was blowing off Turnagain Arm almost as bad as the wind we drove through in South Dakota. Alaska highway # 1 runs from Anchorage down to Homer and it runs right along the Chugach Mountains on one side of the road and Turnagain Arm (which is a huge body of water) right off the other side of the road. There is a railroad track between the highway and Turnagain Arm. On the opposite side of Turnagain Arm are the Chigmit Mountains. The views were stunning and would have been more so except for the rain. This views in this area and the area around Denali Park have been the most beautiful of the whole trip.

Twice I had to pull over in an area designated for slower vehicles to pull into if you have more than five vehicles behind you. This is required in this area by Alaska to help prevent accidents due to people trying to pass slower vehicles. The road is very winding and there is nowhere to go to avoid an accident except into a mountain on one side and down an embankment into the water on the other.

We turned onto Portage Glacier Road and was at the Williwaw National Forest Campground in about 5 miles. There are no hookups at the campground, just level paved sites with lots of trees so plenty of privacy, lots of hiking trails and sitting near the base of the Chugach Mountains. We had tried yesterday to get reservations but you have to make reservations 5 days in advance. So we just took our chances that there would be a site open for us. There were several so we pick site 31. We unhooked the car and setup the motor home and I went back to the entrance to pay. We have a Senior Pass that is supposed to give us a large discount on the rates in all National Forest but for some reason it is not honored here so the site cost us $18 per night

We can look right out the windshield and look right up the side of the snow capped mountain top. Now if this rain and wind would just stop. We don't mind hiking in some drizzling rain (we have our Frogg Toggs for that purpose) but with the wind blowing about 15-20 MPH it would be no fun at all. But we are safe, warm, plenty of food and have plenty of fuel to run the generator so we will just hunker down and try to wait it out.

Several miles back we passed a man and women on bicycles with all their camping/traveling gear. I don't know where they were headed but they sure were riding toward some nasty weather to be traveling on a bicycle with nothing but a small tent for shelter and they were several miles from any visitor's center to get into. We like to ride bicycles (we have ours with us) but not that good.

We have been anxious to get to this area so hopefully the weather will get better so we can enjoy it.

Day 25 – 6-4-15 Friday Guess what we got up to rain and I believe it rained all night. The temps got to 45 degrees last night and the high today is expected to be about 47 degrees with rain. The wind is not as strong as it was yesterday.

We ate breakfast and drove to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to tour it. They take in animals that have been injured and care for them until they can be released back into the wild if possible. The animals are not in cages but out in large open natural areas, except for the two Lynx, a bald eagle and two owls. They had buffalo, large brown bears, musk ox, caribou, bald eagle and some owls. The musk ox really needed grooming as they were shedding their Winter coat and they looked ragged. The large brown bears seemed to draw the most attention from the visitors. This is a non-profit and they were really taking in the money today because there were bus loads of people coming in plus lots of people in cars. The center is in the area where the town of Portage was before the earthquake in 1964 that dropped the land in the area several feet. We saw a sign at the center that said this area is part of the Alaska Rain Forest with this area getting on average 155” of rain a year where Anchorage just 50 miles away gets an average of 17” a year. I guess all these mountain and bodies of water influences the weather patterns.

Then we drove to the Begich and Boggs Visitors Center at Portage Lake. From there we drove up the road to view some of the glaciers that can be seen from the road. We returned to the campground for some lunch. After lunch we donned our Frogg Toggs and took a hike on the Blue Ice Trail that runs from the Begich and Boggs Visitors Center for 5 miles. We could access the trail from the campground. We hiked about 3 miles on it and got some really nice photos of the mountains and the Williwaw Creek that runs along the trail. It was raining lightly the entire time we hiked but the wind was fairly calm so it was a good hike. We bought some good hiking boots before we left home so our feet stay dry and the Frogg Toggs keep the body dry. Actually I have the Frogg Toggs and Lena has another brand that she does not like as the material is too stiff. The Frogg Toggs are very soft and comfortable. We will try to find some for her soon. The views are hard to describe. There were lots of places where the water was streaming down the side of the mountain in long narrow waterfalls and lots of snow on the mountain tops. After our hike we returned to the campground and fixed some hot chocolate and had some of the last cinnamon bun we bought.

We had originally planned 3 nights here but paid for 2 because of the rain so we will be moving on to Seward tomorrow. It is raining there but per my Weather Bug app shows it is supposed to clear up by Sunday.

We of course have no WiFi here in the forest. We do have a cellphone signal which I was surprised at but it is not very strong so I'll wait until we get to Seward and maybe I can also post a few photos along with days 24 & 25.